Superwetting materials with excellent anti-oil-fouling performance for the treatment of oily wastewater are urgently demanded in practice. In this work, aiming at effectively separating diverse oil-in-water emulsions, a multifunctional Bi 2 MoO 6 /Cu 3 (PO 4 ) 2 nanosheet-coated copper mesh was successfully fabricated by the combination of chemical oxidation and ultrasonic irradiation deposition methods. The resultant copper mesh exhibited superior superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity and, more importantly, preferable anti-oil-fouling property benefitting from the stable and firm hydration layer. A series of oil/water separation experiments for the highly emulsified surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions were conducted, with the respective permeation fluxes of up to 3000 and 700 L•m −2 • h −1 and the corresponding separation efficiencies of 99.5 and 98.6% solely driven by gravity. Meanwhile, considering the photo-Fenton-like catalytic activity of Bi 2 MoO 6 , the as-fabricated copper mesh exhibited excellent degradation ability toward organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. More importantly, stability tests were performed to evaluate the ability to cope with the harsh environments for practical applications. With the outstanding performances of high separation efficiency, desirable photo-Fenton-like catalytic capacity, and strong stability, the Bi 2 MoO 6 /Cu 3 (PO 4 ) 2 nanosheet-coated copper mesh holds promising potential for purifying emulsified wastewater.

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Significant progress has been made in the development of membranes characterized by high permeation flux, special wettability, selectivity, and stability during oily wastewater separation. However, more research is needed in multitasking membranes. Herein, we introduce a facile strategy of fabricating a superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic agave-angustifolia-like Cu 3 Mo 2 O 9 nanoplate-coated copper mesh membrane via subsequent chemical oxidation, hydrothermal deposition, and calcination methods. The synergistic effect of the hierarchical structure and photocatalytic activity of the Cu 3 Mo 2 O 9 coating endowed the as-fabricated membrane with superwettability and self-cleaning ability, resulting in high permeation flux (up to 3503.18 L•m −2 •h −1 for surfactant-free emulsions and 917.20 L•m −2 • h −1 for surfactant-stabilized emulsions) and low oil residues in the filtrate (COD value of 11.4 mg L −1 for surfactant-free emulsions and 86.8 mg L −1 for surfactant-stabilized emulsions) during oil-in-water emulsion separation, as well as photocatalytic dye degradation capabilities for methylene blue (92.4%) and rhodamine B (68.6%). Furthermore, the as-fabricated membrane exhibited favorable chemical stability and abrasive resistance. The strategy presented in this work provided a method to produce a durable membrane for efficient oil−water separation with photocatalytic properties and can withstand harsh environments.